The Irish wolfhound was originally a war dog, used
to drag men out of chariots or off horseback, but was also used as a hunting
hound and as a guard. There are numerous references in Irish mythology to its
prowess in all these fields. It was used to hunt the Irish elk and the wolf and
was used singly or in pairs rather than in a pack, hence the need for great
size. When the last of the wolves in Ireland was killed (the elk had become
extinct long before), the breed dwindled and almost died out. The process was
not helped by the demand for this magnificent hound around the world. It was
given as a gift to kings and princes, but this was eventually stopped by Oliver
Cromwell who brought out a law banning its export

In the middle of the Nineteenth
century, Capt. George Augustus Graham undertook the resuscitation of the breed,
which he did by collecting what he considered to be the last specimens of the
breed and breeding them with Deerhounds, Great Danes, and a Borzoi and Tibetan
Mastiff in order to regain the size and type of the original hound.
Click here for more on Capt. Graham and the
resuscitation of the breed. It was Capt. Graham who founded the Irish Wolfhound
Club in 1885, and a later doyenne of the breed, Mrs. Florence Nagle, who
founded the Irish Wolfhound Society in 1981. Club and Society both hold an Open
and a Championship show each year, and a Rally.

The Irish wolfhound comes in various
colours, from cream to black. Wheatens, reds of various shades, and greys from
pale silver to slate are included, either with or without brindling. White on
tip of tail and feet (and legs) is acceptable, but excess white spotting (blaze
or collar) is not.

A bitch so pale a cream as to be
almost white (Ch. Fleetwind Dani of Landstuhl)

A wheaten
puppy

An example of excess white
spotting- Sulhamstead Motley, whose right foreleg was white up to the
elbow, left foreleg white almost to the knee.

There is also a *colour* in the
breed which is considered impermissible, although there is nothing in the
Standard that prevents it, and there has been much misinformation about this
*colour*, which is blue. In the past, if this colour occurred the
affected puppies were put down at birth or as soon after as their colour became
obvious. This was because the colour was said to be deleterious - that any
affected hounds would be sickly and could not live long, also that they could
be deaf and blind. This is a complete misconception. It appears that the colour
was believed to stem from the merle gene, which is deleterious (and even
lethal) to puppies which inherit it from both parents. However, blue is
more properly known as blue dilute and it is a colour paling effect (as
its name suggests) which has no known ill effects. Indeed, whole breeds (e.g.
the Weimaraner) have blue dilute as part of their colour inheritance. The blue
in Greyhounds and Great Danes is also due to this trait. Merle is a dominant
genetic trait, while blue dilute is a recessive genetic trait. For a detailed
article on Blue in Irish wolfhounds, click
here.

A blue dilute on red

It also used to be considered that blues were
always basically grey, so that their colour would be a slate grey with a bluish
tinge to the ears, but this is not the case. Blue dilute can be inherited with
any colour. The most obvious sign of this colour is in the eyes, which turn
colour later than in other puppies, and to a light colour usually referred to
as grape colour. Also, the nose and other areas of normally black
pigment can at best only be dark grey and are more often a liver colour. In a
litter of seven, we had four blue dilutes (which is what got me researching the
whole thing!), whose basic colours ranged from cream through wheaten to red.
The cream was very difficult to spot because his black pigmented areas were
very dark grey and the only real giveaway was the colour of the eyes. One
wheaten puppy was the colour of a Weimaraner; the other two are pictured here.
As to health, they were all fit and healthy and lived to a ripe old age, one
even living to 14.

Two puppies
which are blue dilute on wheaten

This is the head of one of the puppies pictured above, showing the
bluish tinge to the hairs on the ears and through the body. His dark pigment on
nose and muzzle is much darker than is common in blue dilutes.

The Irish wolfhound should be, and usually is, sweet natured and friendly.
Obviously early socialisation is extremely important in order to allow the
puppy to become able to accept any amount of changes in its environment without
becoming nervous and jumpy, or perhaps aggressive, and early socialisation
needs to be carried out in the first three months of life. Frequent handling of
puppies from birth is a really good start, and socialisation with as many other
people as possible - especially children and men - should be done at least
between six and twelve weeks. Introduction to other animals during this period,
as well as to different surroundings, sounds, and so on also needs to be done,
as this is the period when adaptation is more rapid. An excellent article on
the importance of this can be seen at
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/dr-ian-dunbar/why-don%E2%80%99t-we-adequately-socialize-young-puppies-people

Basically the wolfhound temperament should be sound but it is not sensible
to rely on inheritance, as early socialisation is the most important factor in
making sure the breed will be good with people, children, and with other dogs.
All the wolfhounds we have had have adored children. However, they are not
always good with other animals and that is something that should be borne in
mind, as this can be where the hunting instinct kicks in.

It is important to understand that the
Irish wolfhound, like all the Sighthounds, is historically a hunting dog. Dogs
are descended from the wolf and all the different breeds have been brought
about through selection for desirable characteristics but the different
requirements for each breed or type of breed are merely modifications of the
natural behaviour of the wolf. Although the Irish wolfhound is nowadays known
as The Gentle Giant that term has to be put into perspective with
their natural instincts. All the wolfhounds I have lived with have been
wonderful with people and (especially) children, but most of them have not been
wonderful with other animals, especially small animals. But that is
something that has to be accepted in a Sighthound (or any other hunting breed)
and, if it is unacceptable, then another breed should be selected.

Our first wolfhound grew up with kittens and was fine with cats
throughout her life, although she would chase them as a game. The next
additions to our wolfhound family also grew up with cats but their behaviour
towards them in adult-hood differed markedly, and some, although okay with our
cats, would chase other cats and, I am sure, would have killed them if caught.
And all but one of our hounds considered rabbits natural prey.

The exception was Goldie who appeared to have a strong sense of
fair play. When the pack was let out for a run, they would all hurtle off
across the fields after rabbits but Goldie would follow slowly in the rear
looking for the rabbits that had simply gone to ground. When she
found one, she would push it with her nose and, if it didnt move, would
then stamp her forefeet on either side of it. If it still stayed where it was,
she would go off and look for another one. If it ran she would chase it but
never attempt to grab it. When we had a particularly bad bout of myxomatosis in
the local rabbit population, she would pick up the sick rabbits and carry them
to her bed. She had a very soft mouth and they were completely unharmed. We
often found her lying beside the bed with four or five rabbits sitting in it.
However, even such an apparently trustworthy hound killed one of our chickens
one day, completely out of the blue.

Goldie

Moppet was at the other end of the spectrum. Although having
been reared with cats, once she reached fourteen months she became a dedicated
cat chaser, and a killer of anything else she could catch. Luckily she did not
actually kill a cat, but it was a pretty close shave often enough. Her
hunting/killing instinct was so powerful it pretty well ruled her life. She was
also an alpha, which made life pretty difficult all round as she
was intent on being top dog. Her other talent was stealing and that she had
down to a fine art. She would steal tins of cat food, puncture both ends, and
squeeze the middle so the contents oozed out of the holes. Jars of jam or
marmalade would have their lids unscrewed and their contents removed. She could
eat a dozen eggs without leaving a trace of shell or white to show that there
had ever been any. Although not at all a good specimen of a wolfhound she was
always the one to make the catch on a hunting trip, since the other hounds knew
better than to try to take what was rightfully hers! I should say here that I
have never hunted with the dogs, but when they are allowed to run free (as they
should; thats what they are for) they hunt. That is their natural
behaviour. It would probably be a lot more comfortable in this modern age to
have wolfhounds without the hunting instinct, but that may well be impossible
to achieve.

Irish wolfhounds coursing in the
1930s

Certainly, though, anyone who cannot accept the possiblity of
their pet chasing, catching, and probably killing something should not have a
wolfhound or any other of the hunting breeds. Even small breeds of dog could be
at risk - to a wolfhound intent on the chase, there may not appear to be much
difference from a distance between a rabbit and, say, a West Highland White
Terrier. This is not to say they are awful dogs; they were bred to hunt. Man
produced the hunting breeds (and all the others) for his own ends, so there is
no point blaming the dog for how it was modified by Man.

So, not all wolfhounds have strong hunting instincts but many
of them do and certainly it would be wrong to expect to be able to run them
free amongst livestock as a matter of course. There have been hounds who have
been excellent with other animals of all kinds, but they are not the norm. It
is important to be aware of this trait in the breed (or any sighthound breed),
because they were bred for hunting and killing, after all , and cannot be
expected to understand that some animals are okay to hunt but others are not.
However, we can train them to behave differently with different animals, just
as we can train them to modify other natural instincts and behaviours, although
it may not be possible to train some hounds in this way because of their very
strong hunting instinct.

If you want to give your hound a chance to chase without
actually going after another animal, then try lure coursing, in which hounds
are paired and released to chase a lure.

There were two wolfhounds, Orla and Finn,
who used to herd sheep in Scotland. They were introduced to sheep through
sharing the kitchen with a pet lamb and had learned from the start that sheep
were family, not prey. Then they had gradually started to participate in the
herding until eventually the Border Collie that had done all the herding was
retired.

And just to show that wolfhounds can excel at Working
Trials, this is Tara (registered name Marhaba of Berryfield) who gained every
Working Trial title and frequently trounced top Police dogs, besides
astonishing the judges by losing very few points at most Trials. Here Tara is
doing the track, at which she was particularly good (although the breed is not
usually noted for its scenting ability). Her titles were U.D.Ex, W.D.Ex, T.D.Ex
(she scored excellent in Utility Dog, Working Dog, and Tracking
Dog) .

In the working trials there is an event called the square search, where an
area is delineated simply by flags at four corners. Objects are dropped in the
area and the dog has to find the objects within a certain time while not
leaving the designated area, and the handler has to stay outside the area. Tara
used to have great fun with this one. She would wander around, sit down and
have a scratch, gaze up at the sky, wander around some more, while her handler
stood, frustrated but impotent. At almost the last minute, Tara would suddenly
be galvanised into action and would race round collecting the articles and
taking them to her handler.

There is an Irish Wolfhound Foundation, which was established
in 2002 as a tax-exempt, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to
helping protect and preserve the past, present, and future of the Irish
Wolfhound. To this end, the IWF raises and allocates funds for Research and
Health Studies, Education, and Rescue and there is an online shop at which the
IWF sells wolfhound-related items. Go to www.IWFgiftshop.com, where payment may be
made through PayPal as well as by credit card.

The Complete Irish Wolfhound by Joel Samaha (The Complete Irish
Wolfhound was originally written by Alma J. Starbuck and first published in
1963. It was updated by Joel Samaha at the request of the Irish Wolfhound Club
of America)